What is a GCC in India?
A GCC is a team your company owns, working inside your company's processes, in a country with deep engineering talent. In India it usually starts small and grows into a development center. You choose the people, set the priorities and keep the intellectual property.
It is not a vendor arrangement. Your engineers attend your standups and report to your managers. The part that differs from a normal subsidiary is who does the back-office work. With GCC Nexus, we find the engineers, then handle entity, payroll, compliance, office and equipment, so your leaders manage the team and nothing else.
For the history, models and trends, read What is a GCC?
How to set up a GCC in India: the steps
- Decide scope, function and size. Which engineering work will the team own, and how many people do you want in the first year? Start with the roles you cannot hire at home.
- Pick a city. Bangalore, Hyderabad or Pune. See the city section below.
- Find the engineers. TalentRadar, GCC Nexus's AI outbound platform, finds engineers who aren't looking. No job ads. We source from product companies such as Razorpay, Swiggy, CRED and Google India.
- Interview before you decide. Candidates have already been interviewed by independent domain experts. Then you interview them and make the final call.
- Put the legal and operating base in place. Entity, employment contracts, payroll, benefits and compliance. We handle these.
- Equip the team. Office space, laptops and access, ready before the first day.
- Run it with your team. Your engineers join your sprints and tools. We keep payroll, compliance and HR running in the background.
Which steps GCC Nexus handles: steps 3, 4, 5 and 6 end to end, with your input on who you hire. You own steps 1, 2 and 7.
How long does it take to set up a GCC in India?
Your first engineer can be live in about 2 weeks. A team of 5 to 10 engineers is typically fully onboarded within 6 to 8 weeks from the first hire going live.
Larger teams take longer, and the case studies show how much.
| Team | What happened |
|---|---|
| Pulse Energy | Full engineering team operational in 9 weeks |
| Airrived | Full engineering team operational in 7 weeks |
| Fincobox (UAE) | 10+ engineers; first hires in 6 weeks |
| Shopping Gate | Full cross-functional team of 15 operational within 3 months; first 2 hires within 2 weeks |
| Barq | 100+ engineers; first 10 hires in 8 weeks |
Timelines depend on how many roles you open at once and how quickly your team decides. A full team of 15 took 3 months in one of our case studies. Do not plan on a full team in 2 weeks.
What does it cost to set up a GCC in India?
The largest cost is engineer salary. Everything else (entity, office, equipment, compliance and our management work) is smaller and mostly one-time.
Here is what a salary looks like against the US. All figures are annual salary in USD, for the India top 10% band at 6 years of experience, GCC Nexus 2026 data:
| Role | India (top 10%, 6 yrs) | US equivalent | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Python developer | $66,500 | $135,000 | 51% |
| ML engineer | $69,600 | $190,000 | 63% |
| AI engineer | $69,600 | $220,000 | 68% |
| DevOps / SRE | $54,100 | $130,000 | 58% |
Source: GCC Nexus 2026 salary data, built from 100,000+ salary profiles. These are salaries, not total employer cost. Total employer cost for each role, with a method note, is on the salary pages.
Across roles, the saving against US and UK rates is about 50%.
For the full breakdown of one-time setup costs, see GCC setup cost. For a country-level comparison, see India vs US developer cost.
GCC vs captive vs build-operate-transfer vs outsourcing
Four ways to get a team in India. Only two of them give you a team you own.
| Model | Who owns the team | Who runs the back office | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCC (your own team, built with GCC Nexus) | You | GCC Nexus, until you want to take it over | Companies that want a team for the long term without running India operations themselves |
| Captive center, built alone | You | You | Large companies with an India leadership team and legal capacity in place |
| Build-operate-transfer (BOT) | You, after the transfer | The partner first, then you | Companies that want to start fast and move the operation in-house later |
| Outsourcing | The vendor's people work on your project | The vendor | Short, defined projects |
A captive is simply a GCC a company sets up and runs on its own. BOT is a path to one: someone builds and runs it for you, then hands it over.
More: GCC vs outsourcing.
Which city: Bangalore, Hyderabad or Pune?
| City | GCCs (GCC Nexus count) | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Bangalore | 880+ | Bangalore guide |
| Hyderabad | 355+ | Hyderabad guide |
| Pune | 350+ | Pune guide |
Pick the city by the work, not by your home market. Bangalore has the largest pool of product and AI talent and the most competition for it. Hyderabad and Pune have large pools too, and the right choice depends on the roles you need. Our city pages go into the detail.
GCC setup for US, UK, Australian and UAE companies
India Standard Time is UTC+5:30 all year. India has no daylight saving, so overlap with the US and UK changes twice a year. The UAE is 1.5 hours behind India all year.
Proof: teams we have built
- Shopping Gate: a full cross-functional team of 15 operational within 3 months; first 2 hires within 2 weeks.
- Advanced Infrastructure (UK): 24 engineers from IIT, BITS and IIIT.
- Barq: 100+ engineers; first 10 hires in 8 weeks; 50% cost saving.
All case studies.
FAQ
What is a GCC in India?
A GCC, or Global Capability Center, is an engineering team in India that your company owns and manages. Your engineers work only for you, follow your processes and report to your leaders. You keep the intellectual property.
How do I set up a GCC in India?
Decide the scope and team size, choose a city, hire the engineers, and put entity, payroll, office and compliance in place. GCC Nexus finds the engineers with TalentRadar, runs the legal and operating base, and you manage the team. The steps are listed above.
How long does it take to set up a GCC in India?
Your first engineer can be live in about 2 weeks. A team of 5 to 10 engineers is typically fully onboarded within 6 to 8 weeks from the first hire going live. A team of 15 took 3 months in our Shopping Gate case study.
How much does it cost to set up a GCC in India?
Engineer salary is the main cost. For the India top 10% band at 6 years of experience, a Python developer is $66,500 a year against $135,000 for a US equivalent, a 51% saving (GCC Nexus 2026 data). Across roles the saving against US and UK rates is about 50%. See our GCC setup cost page for one-time costs.
What is the difference between a GCC and a captive center?
Not much. A captive center is a GCC that the company sets up and runs by itself. The difference that matters is who does the setup work: your own India team, or a partner that builds it with you and hands it over.
GCC vs outsourcing: what changes for IP and control?
In a GCC your engineers work for your company, you decide who joins, and you own the work they produce. In outsourcing the vendor employs the people and decides who works on your project. Contract terms vary, so check IP clauses with your lawyer in either case.
How many engineers do I need to make a GCC worth it?
There is no single number. Teams we have built range from 10+ engineers (Fincobox) to 100+ (Barq). Many companies start with a handful of roles and add more once the first hires are productive.
Ready to plan your GCC in India? Tell us the roles you need and your timeline.
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